How Web Browsers Work: A Simple Guide for Everyday Users
You’re almost certainly reading this using a browser of some type, whether it’s on a phone, tablet, or computer. The browser is your gateway to the World Wide Web, or what we call the Internet. We count on our browsers to just do their job so we don’t have to think about them, but how they work can be fascinating. Whether you use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Edge, or something else, the basics are the same, and we’re going to explore them now.
What is a Web Browser?
A web browser is a piece of software that functions as a tool for viewing websites and web content. The basic functions of a web browser are to retrieve, display, and interact with web content. When you click on a link to a website, that’s the “retrieve” function. The site coming up on your screen is the display function. When you click around the site, fill out a form, or click the “buy” button, you’re interacting with the site.
A search engine is a website that helps you find information on the Internet. You search by typing in keywords or questions. Unlike a browser, which displays websites, a search engine helps you discover which websites to visit.
A browser is not a search engine. Google is not a browser, and Chrome is not a search engine. Google is a search engine, but Google Chrome is a browser. Bing is a search engine, but Edge is a browser. There are other search engines, but those are the two big ones.
A Look Under the Hood: How a Browser Works
I’m going to take you step-by-step through the browser’s basic functions. I won’t go into some of the deeper programming or security aspects here; those are topics for separate posts.
- The user (that’s you) clicks on a link or types in a web address. That address is called a Uniform Resource Locator, or URL. Your browser first checks to see if your device has already stored that website’s numerical Internet Protocol (IP) address. Each device keeps a small memory area just for this kind of DNS information.
If your device has the IP address, the browser uses it in the next step. If not, the browser sends a request to a Domain Name System (DNS) resolver. Most people use DNS servers automatically provided by their Internet Service Provider (ISP), though it’s possible to specify different DNS servers manually. For most of us, the default is just fine.
The DNS resolver checks whether it already knows the IP address for the domain name. If it does, it sends the address back to the browser, which then proceeds to the next step. If it doesn’t, the resolver asks other DNS servers, moving up a chain until one of them finds the answer. Once found, the result is passed back down the chain to your browser.
Why does it do all that? Because everything on the Internet is identified by a number. That number might be all digits (IPv4) or a mix of letters and digits (IPv6), but it’s still a number. Computers and servers use these numbers to find each other quickly and reliably. Humans, however, are better at remembering names than numbers—that’s why DNS exists. - The browser sends a request to the numerical address for the website you want, using Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) or, more commonly today, Hypertext Transfer Protocol – Secure (HTTPS). HTTP and HTTPS are protocols – sets of rules that devices use to make sure they can communicate.
When one device sends information to another, it includes a tiny bit of extra data—like a label—that tells the receiving device which set of rules, or protocol, it should use to understand the message. This way, both devices stay on the same page during the conversation. - The server responds with the requested data. The link that you click on will contain enough information for the website server to send back exactly the page that was specified in the link. If you type the name in yourself, the web server will send back the front page, unless you specify a particular page in what you type.
For example, if you type in oakwoodexperience.com, you’ll go to the front page of my website. But if you type in oakwoodexperience.com/blog, you’ll end up on the page that lists all the articles I’ve written, in reverse chronological order.
However, what the website server sends back isn’t an image or a piece of paper. It’s a bunch of code that your browser knows how to read and process. The basics of a website are handled with Hypertext Markup Language, or HTML. A website with just a bunch of HTML code for the text of the site is a pretty boring (and ugly) website. A website also has things that make it pretty, that make the pages look consistent throughout the site, and that display dynamic content.
Cascading Style Sheets allow a website developer to tell the browser, “All of our pages should have a pastel bar across the top and the bottom, and all of our typeface should be Arial. I’ll give you any exceptions as we come to them.”
JavaScript is code that makes websites interactive. It allows automatic updates to your shopping cart. If you’ve ever seen a pop-up message for a discount for new customers, you were seeing JavaScript in action. The menus that drop down when you hover over them are made possible with JavaScript.
Your browser takes in all that code that the website sends back in response to your browser’s request to the site, reads the code, and displays on your screen its understanding of what that code means. That’s called “rendering the code” or “rendering the page.”
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Key Parts of a Browser
Now let’s look at the different parts of a browser, and I’ll do my best to give you good examples and illustrations. We’ll look at the address bar, tabs, back, forward, and refresh buttons, bookmarks/favorites, and extensions/settings.
This is the address bar. It’s the place you type the website address. Modern browsers can also use this as the search bar, and that’s handy when you’re on one page and just want to search without going back to the search engine’s home page.
All modern browsers today support tabs. That allows you to visit multiple websites without having to open several instances of the program or leave a website completely to go to another site.
The back button is only active if you’ve clicked somewhere and gone to a new page after the first page you landed on. From the first page, there’s no place to go “back” to; but once there’s somewhere to go “back” to, the button is active.
The Forward button is either hidden or inactive until you’ve gone “back” to a previous page. In the opposite way, the Back button steps you back through previous pages, the Forward button returns you to the most recent page.
The Refresh button tells your browser to make a new request for the current web page, retrieving the latest version from the website’s server.
Your browser may call the bookmarks or it may call them favorites, but either way, they’re a way for you to save the URLs of pages you want to visit frequently without having to type the address.
Extensions
Browser extensions are small add-on tools that can add features or customize how your browser works. Think of them like accessories that give your browser new abilities. Grammarly is one, ad blockers and translators are handy, and I have one that will save a web page to Evernote for me so I can put it into my research folders.
Settings
Your browser has a settings menu where you can manage things like your home page, privacy controls, saved passwords, search engine choices, and more. You can change the themes, choose a different search engine, clear your cookies, and more from within the Settings menus.
Browser Safety Measures
Because your browser is your gateway to the Internet, attackers try to find ways to use it to steal information. Fortunately, browser developers work with security experts to make it harder for attackers.
HTTPS
I mentioned this earlier. That “Secure” part of the HTTPS indicates that your data is encrypted when it leaves your browser, and it stays encrypted until it reaches the destination server. If an attacker intercepts that data, it’ll just look like gibberish. Most websites now are using the HTTPS protocol as a standard practice for all pages, but just in case, before you send anyone any personal or financial information, look for the padlock icon to the left of the address bar. Chrome recently removed the traditional padlock icon, replacing it with a settings-style “tune” icon or “sliders.” Clicking it shows site connection info.
Sandboxing and Isolation
Modern browsers use sandboxing to keep each tab or extension in its own safe space. That means if one tab crashes or a website tries something sneaky, it can’t easily affect your other tabs or your entire computer.
Think of it like putting each website in its own room with a locked door. It can only use the resources it’s allowed—and if something goes wrong in that room, it’s much harder for the problem to spread.
Incognito or Private Mode
All modern browsers include a “Private” or “Incognito” mode. When you use it, the browser doesn’t save your browsing history, cookies, site data, or form entries after you close the window. The browser makes sure the website doesn’t remember you when you visit again.
Warning About Malicious Sites
All modern browsers provide a warning about sites with malicious or dangerous (from a technology perspective) content. Some just won’t go to those sites, and some will let you continue at your own risk. But they’ve gotten well-programmed to understand that some code living on a site is up to no good.
Browser Performance and Compatibility
Some websites work better in certain browsers because not all browsers handle code in the exact same way. Web developers try to make their sites work everywhere, but small differences in how browsers interpret code (like JavaScript, CSS, or animations) can cause layout glitches or features that don’t work properly.
Newer features might work best in updated browsers, and some websites are even optimized for specific browsers. That’s why keeping your browser updated—and occasionally trying a different one—can make things run more smoothly.
I use a couple of sites that just plain don’t work on one browser, but they work fine on another. I can get to the basic site and look around, but neither of those sites will perform a login with my username and password; they loop back to the login page. For those sites, I have another trusted browser, which works just fine. Go figure.
Updates
You should keep your browser updated regularly, as often as it tells you it wants to update. For me, that usually means “just as soon as I’m done with the thirteen tabs I have open,” but I make it a priority. Remember, I said earlier that because the browser is your gateway to the Internet, attackers want to attack it. A browser that is behind on updates is highly exploitable. Fortunately, developers make it easy to update – it usually just takes relaunching with the “relaunch to update” button they provide.
Those extensions I mentioned earlier – they can sometimes enhance your browsing experience. I have an extension called One Tab. It takes all my open tabs and condenses them into a list of links, then closes the tabs. I still have access to all the tabs I had open, but they’re not sitting there consuming valuable resources.
However, some extensions will be a drag on performance. If you want to know why your browser is slo-o-o-o-o-o-w, try disabling the extensions and see if that improves things. You don’t have to keep them all off all the time, but you might want to keep them disabled until you need them.
There’s another hazard with extensions, and that’s abandonment by the developer. Most developers don’t get paid for the work they do on extensions, and keeping them patched can be cumbersome. The extension I mentioned earlier, Evernote, that company pays for its upkeep. But there have been some that I’ve removed because the developer sold them to someone I didn’t recognize. They may have been fine, but it wasn’t worth the risk. If you want to know if an extension is safe, ask one of your geeky friends.
Your Turn
What’s your favorite browser? What do you like about it? What’s on your wish list for a browser? Drop a comment below the Related Posts section!
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